Strong Starts Matter: Why Executive Coaching Should Be in the Offer Letter

I'm writing today's post with board members, new executive directors, and successful leadership transitions top of mind. 

New executive directors need executive coaches, and their boards should include the cost in their compensation agreement as a matter of course.

Why, you ask? 

The hiring and ongoing support of the executive director is one of the board’s most important responsibilities, if not the most important. I know you know that, but I can’t help but remind you.

The period of a new executive director beginning their tenure as a board wraps up a search is pivotal – and delicate.

Although current definitive data is hard to track down, the best guess is that about 20% of nonprofits will lose their executive director and hire a new one in any given year. 

The volume knob on this issue turns up from six to eight when we factor in that over half of new nonprofit executive directors are assuming the leadership role for the first time. And many board members have never hired a executive director for their nonprofit before, leaving the organization with almost no one who has accumulated lessons from managing the start of a tenure before. 

As the organization's budget size gets smaller, the proportion of people who are new to the job grows and the knowledge gap for all concerned gets larger.

As a result, in many organizations, a smart and caring group of people who have never done this before find themselves groping in the dark for the light switch that will illuminate success.

An executive coach (especially one with nonprofit leadership experience) can help facilitate this moment – providing support and focus for the executive director and enabling stronger communication between board and executive director from the beginning of the relationship. 

A first-time executive director navigates a myriad of issues for which there really is no formal preparation and where an executive coach can help.

• They’ve likely never managed a board before. Seasoned executives know that board management is a key aspect of the role and time well spent (or ignored with potentially dire consequences).

• They have no sounding board in the system. Many of their concerns and observations are not ready for board or staff discussions, but they do need to work them out. 

• Figuring out how to allocate time intentionally across the many demands of their job is difficult to work through, especially in the avalanche of activity in a new tenure. Executive directors navigate the viewpoints of everyone in the network, from staff to board to beneficiaries to donors. They are also responsible for a wide array of functions – governance, fundraising, staff development, community relations, operations, and strategy. If they lose focus on any of those groups or areas of work, it shows to the board and staff and slows the development of trust. 

• Leading up to the new executive director’s hire, many boards have worked harder and longer hours than they have at any point in their tenure. They're supportive – but may underestimate how much time this period can take and what exactly should be happening that does not cross the line into interference. 

• Speaking of crossing the line, the board has also, especially in smaller organizations, needed to dip its toe into management waters during the search. Depending on the state of the organization, the dipping of the toe may have turned into an infamous deep dive. Helping a new executive director help their board rise up out of the depths is yet another delicate endeavor. 

• Everyone expects a new leader to take time to get the lay of the land. Most boards and executive directors do not agree on exactly how long that “lay of the land” time should be. 

• Most new leaders find some surprises when they join an organization and a host of issues they would approach differently than their predecessor. As a result, the new executive director is often in the position of bringing information to the board that could be surprising or challenge their current view. Those issues need to be framed and timed carefully. 

So why do I think coaching is the way to handle this?

• First and foremost, the executive coaching space is confidential. An executive director can fully vet their thinking (and engage in a little healthy venting if they need it) and find concrete actions to take from amid the confusion.

• Challenges they have experienced as their career progresses show up in the leadership role, times twenty, and with greater consequences. Through honest observations and open-ended questions, a coach can help ensure those issues don’t hamstring the new leader.

• Many coaching engagements will include 360 degree feedback, including interviews with key staff and board members at a mutually agreed on time. The feedback accumulated from these interviews is for only the eyes of the executive director. Delivered by a coach, it’s more digestible, can be connected to broader themes in the coaching relationship, and generate a concrete work plan for the coming year. It can also set the stage for a three-, six-, or nine-month check-in with the board about early wins, obstacles, and the focus moving forward. 

• Executive coaches can observe a client in action during a board meeting or performance conversation to better understand the relationship dynamics and assist in navigating it more effectively. The coach may also offer the board observations on how they might better support the executive director, if they are open to it (I find that almost all are).

• New executive directors are at the beginning of building a network of support composed of other executive directors. This group can provide great support and valuable input in assessing what is happening in their organizations and whether it is happening across the field. An executive coach can make sure this aspect of support is developed to help broaden the base of support.

Setting up for Success

It is critically important that the executive director chooses their executive coach. The sense of there being a good fit – a connection – is key to a successful coach-client relationship. 

It is also important that the board president or the board member overseeing the onboarding process meet the coach (but not make the final decision). Everyone involved should believe this will be a productive engagement. The coach can also make initial observations from these board interactions to inform the early stage of the engagement. 

The board and new executive director should agree on the timing of the engagement – whether it starts one month, three months, or six months after the beginning of the tenure. The coaching engagement can help someone navigate the deluge of input from an initial listening tour or can signal the end of the tour – turning observations and impressions into vision setting and the deepening of relationships.  

Finally, everyone should be clear: coaching may inform an annual review, but that’s not its purpose. Appraisals focus on the goals the leader accomplished. Coaching enables those accomplishments by focusing on the development of the leader. 

Executive coaching can help any executive director at any point in their tenure, but starting early offers distinct benefits. So many aspects of leadership simply cannot be managed by a person new to the role with the resources at their disposal and no external support.

And … repairing the damage of a clumsy start can take a long time. 

If you are in the midst of hiring an executive director, just welcomed a new one to your organization, or want to explore building this approach into your succession planning, you can email me at gary@garybagley.com or DM me on LinkedIn.